


Princesses and Promises

by Lockea



Series: Inbox Requests (FFVII Edition) [2]
Category: Final Fantasy VII
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, Fluff and Angst, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, M/M, Mostly Fluff, Team Shinobi Brat, Unhealthy Relationships, Yuffie's Foul Mouth, somewhat so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-11-27
Packaged: 2019-02-07 09:15:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12838029
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lockea/pseuds/Lockea
Summary: Three years ago, General Sephiroth of ShinRa married a concubine from the city-state of Nibelheim as part of a treaty between the company and the territory. Today, Rufus Shinra is set to wed Princess Yuffie Kisaragi of Wutai as an end to the war between the two factions. When the princess develops cold feet, the Turks request the presence of the only other one in the tower who might know what she's going through; the Concubinus Sephiroth, less well known by his birth name, Cloud. However, Sephiroth is none to pleased to learn that the Turks have gotten their hands on his precious concubine.





	Princesses and Promises

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Asylos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asylos/gifts).



> For the meta on the story, please see my tumblr post. The short is that this takes place in an AU I took too much time worldbuilding and not enough time writing called "Esperanza's Season." I've considered writing a longer work in the 'verse, but the few times I've tried it hasn't been met with much interest. Still, every once in a while I stare at it wistfully and debate trying again.
> 
> The usual trigger warning blanket applies -- blah blah worried about triggers, message me. Otherwise, this fic references some dubious situations (made dubious because Cloud is basically Sephiroth's glorified sex slave). But, while their relationship may not be totally healthy, this story does lend hope to an idea that it might one day be.
> 
> Underage tag because Cloud is nineteen, which would make him sixteen when he married. Yuffie is fourteen, so she's not terribly old either. Don't worry, she comes out all right.

If there was one thing ShinRa loved to do more than anything else, it was throw a party. New PHS comes out? Debut party! The holiday season and the new year arrive? Holiday party! A ShinRa elite gets married? Wedding party! 

The morning of the wedding between Rufus Shinra and the fourteen-year-old Princess of Wutai, Yuffie Kisaragi, Cloud woke up with a soaring headache which he pushed back with a glass of water and some medication in a clearly marked bottle designating that it was his medicine and not Sephiroth's ridiculous kill-a-man-with-a-single-pill pain medications. Sephiroth was already gone -- morning training with the other SOLDIERs, but a knock on the door told Cloud that Zack was here to escort him to his own training. Sephiroth was insistant that his concubine at least knew how to defend himself -- Cloud wasn't going to protest the chance to train openly for the first time in his life, and had surprised his teacher with the extent of his martial arts knowledge. Concubines were not supposed to know martial arts, but Sephiroth didn't care about what was proper for a concubine and for that Cloud adored him.

Not love. Because Sephiroth didn't love Cloud, but adoration was fine. Sephiroth was a gentle lover, never cruel. Distant but kind in a forgetful sort of way, and more than willing to let Cloud have as much freedom as was reasonable. 

Cloud slipped out of bed and grabbed his veil and robe off the chair beside the bed, donning both as he headed for the door. The robe covered his body and the veil hid his face, as was proper, even though Zack was one of the few around whom Cloud didn't hesitate to lift his veil, who knew who else would be in the hallway when he opened the door. "I'm coming!" He called, racing up to the door.

It wasn't Zack. "Reno?" Cloud asked curiously as the Turk gave him a jaunty wave of the hand. "What are you doing here?" Now he was glad the confusion on his face was hidden beneath the veil.

"Change of plans shortie. The princess has cold feet and needs a big sister."

Cloud rolled his eyes and invited the Turk in, closing the door behind the Turk. "I'm supposed to go to my martial arts lessons this morning. I don't have time to babysit Princess Kisaragi." Cloud told Reno flatly. He moved back towards the bedroom, putting distance between the two of them. Technically, it was completely improper for a concubine to be alone with another man who wasn't their master, but Sephiroth wasn't  _that_ posessive. "Besides, what makes you think I would be any use to you?"

"Because you're the only other one in this tower who was married for political reasons. And you were sixteen when you married the general. If anyone understands what it's like to be a child bride, yo, it'd be you." Reno replied smoothly, but there was a hint of compassion that he normally didn't let anyone see. Reno was an odd duck, perfectly content to see business as business and all else beneath his notice. That made him one of Cloud's least favorite Turks, but the asshole did have some compassion, it seemed.

"I'm not Sephiroth's wife; I'm his concubine. There's a difference and Wutai recognizes that difference even if ShinRa doesn't. The princess won't be thrilled to accept comfort from a concubine." Cloud replied. It was true. Only the Western Continent seemed to care about the difference between a concubine and a wife, with ShinRa being gleefully oblivious to those differences. It worked to Cloud's advantage because the rules were more lax than they would have been had he stayed in Nibelheim and married a man there. 

"The princess is driving her Turk escorts crazy and clearly needs someone to talk to, yo." Reno shot back. "C'mon, darling, help a bro out."

"I'm not your bro but if it will get you to shut up I'll see what I can do." Cloud replied, before ducking back into the bedroom and shutting the door.

It took him twenty minutes to get dressed, replacing his sleeping robe with a long formal one in pale blue with silver and black embroidery to match Sephiroth's dress uniform. The veil was white with the same embroidery, Cloud grabbed a cloak to go over the long garments for warmth and a pair of gold slippers before he came back out into the room. Reno whistled at him. Cloud resisted the urge to punch him. "Let's go." Cloud ordered, grabbing the keycard for the apartment off the counter in case he needed to come back before the wedding actually began. So much for martial arts lessons this morning. He grabbed his PHS to and shot Zack a quick text as he followed Reno back out into the hall. 

The walk to the executive apartments was long and meandering, since there wasn't a direct elevator between the SOLDIER floors and the penthouse, but they arrived on the 79th floor eventually. Two Turks whom Cloud didn't recognize were posted outside the Princess's apartment. They nodded when Reno approached and opened the door for him. Cloud ducked in first, followed closely by Reno. Inside the room was a mess of boxes and garments strewn from one end of the living and dining quarters to the other. The door to the bedroom was open and inside it sounded like Princess Kisaragi was throwing a temper tantrum.

"Get out!" Came the high pitched whine of the teenage princess. "Get out! Get out! Get out! I don't want any of you in here!"

Cloud headed straight for the door and glanced into the room. Inside was a Turk -- one of the women, Cissnei -- and a handful of Wutaian maids in formal kimono trying to get the princess into her  _shiromuke_. The princess herself was curled up on the bed still in her dark blue nightgown with her knees curled up to her chest. She glared when she saw someone new enter the room. Cloud stared back impassionately, realizing that the princess couldn't see it past the veil but not caring. Facial expressions carried in body language too. She would know from his stance that he wasn't going to take her temper tantrum.

"Who is this?" Princess Kisaragi demanded. "Get out! Get the fuck out!"

"Language, princess!" One of the maids cried. Cloud ignored her and moved forward. 

Reno said, "This is the Concubinus Sephiroth. He married the general three years ago to seal the alliance between the city-state of Nibelheim and ShinRa."

Cloud took the introduction in stride as it gave the princess enough to pause. "Leave us, please." He asked the maids and the female Turk. The maids glanced at the princess, who made no move, so they took their cue from Cissnei instead, who gestured for them to follow her and Reno out of the room, leaving Cloud alone with the Princess of Wutai.

With a sigh, Cloud pulled his veil back, exposing his face to the girl, and sat on her bed, tilted so that he faced her. "I'm sorry." He said.

The princess looked like she'd been crying and bravely trying to cover it up with her temper tantrum instead, but now she glanced at Cloud and sniffed weakly. "W-what?" 

"I'm sorry." Cloud repeated. "It's not a fun feeling to marry someone so much older than you because of political alliances. It's not fair to be a kid and have the weight of the world thrust on your shoulders."

In a moment, the young princess flung herself at Cloud, wrapping skinny arms around his shoulder as she sobbed into his formal robes. Cloud sighed. He was supposed to wear these for the ceremony. But still, he wrapped his arms around the girl and held her against him. At nineteen, he wasn't too much older than her, and he had been just a few years older when he'd married Sephiroth. But that'd been different. Concubines came of age younger than the princess would. Even if she was old enough to marry, she was still a child bride. "I don't want to get married." She whispered against him.

"I know." Cloud replied. "I didn't either and I was older than you, but I had to do what was best for my people."

He felt the princess nod against him before she pulled away. She looked young -- a scrawny teenager with too long, awkward limbs and a smattering of acne across her face. She forced a smile to her face and said, "Did it hurt? Sex?"

Cloud thought about it. "Yes." He answered honestly. It had. Sephiroth hadn't been rough but he hadn't exactly been gentle either, consumating their marriage with a brutal efficiency. Princess Yuffie's face dropped. "But I was young. By the terms of your contract the Vice President has to wait until you're eighteen before he can consummate the marriage. So don't worry about it."

"Yeah, but I don't want it to hurt. Besides, I'm curious." She sounded more chipper at least, like just talking frankly with Cloud was helping her relax. "Hey, the red-headed asshat called you Concubinus Sephiroth, but there's no way that's your name."

"Such language." Cloud muttered under his breath. The princess laughed. "It's my formal name. Concubines from Nibelheim don't have names of their own. More like nicknames we go by from birth until marriage."

"Oh yeah? That sucks. What's your nickname? I'm not calling you something stuffy like Concubinus Sephiroth when you're my new friend."

Cloud laughed outright at that, a rare sound. He kind of liked the princess -- punk ass that she was. "It's Cloud." He winked at her. "But that's our little secret. Only a couple people know my name."

Princess Yuffie hugged him again. "Thanks Cloud."

"No problem, Princess." Cloud wrapped his arm around her shoulders and hugged her close. "The red head is an asshat, isn't he."

Princess Yuffie giggled. "Yeah. Call me Yuffie. You're my new friend. I'm going to stalk you forever.

"Great." Cloud drawled sarcastically. "And it's really not so bad, I promise. All you have to do is stand there and smile for an hour and then you can go back to pretending Rufus Shinra doesn't exist."

Yuffie nodded, but she still looked miserable at the prospect. Cloud didn't blame her. He hadn't been much more excited to marry Sephiroth. "I guess." She groaned. "Duties and obligations suck."

Cloud laughed. True that. Still, the princess climbed off the bed and headed for the nearest discarded garment, the first layer of her  _shiromuke,_ a white cotton robe, light and airy. Cloud pulled his veil back over his head and headed for the door, knocking once before opening it to let the maids back in. The women swarmed the young princess like flies on a carcass and Cloud sighed as she squawked indignantly at the attention. Still, Princess Yuffie didn't raise a fuss as the maids straightened her kimono and arranged her unruly black hair into some semblance of bridal hairdress. He made to leave the room, but Yuffie caught sight of him. 

"Wait, wait! Where are you going, blondie?! You gotta stay with me until the wedding."

Beneath his veil, Cloud rolled his eyes. "Since when." He replied teasingly, even as he turned back around. So much for getting in some practice this morning. "My husband is waiting for me."

"Fuck your husband." Yuffie replied, and around her the maids gasped but Cloud just stiffled a laugh. For a teenage princess, she was pretty damn precocious. With a long suffering sigh, Cloud collapsed on an oversized chair near the door and pulled his PHS out. "That's more like it!"

Cloud dialed Sephiroth's number by rote memory, unsurprised when it went straight to the man's voicemail. His husband wasn't one for interruptions when he was training. Still, he'd appreciate it if Cloud left him a message. "Hey, I've been kidnapped by the Turks to assist Princess Kisaragi before her wedding. I'll see you at the ceremony. Reno's escorting me, Zack knows where I am."

He hung up. No need to say anything else. 

Cloud watched as Princess Yuffie's maids coerced her into her wedding kimono, wrapping her up in layer after layer of embroidered silk and brocade. Princess Yuffie whined the whole time, to the clear aggravation of her maids and the two Turks. Cloud, on the other hand, was privately amused by her attitude. Clearly the princess was not going to make this easy on anyone around her. Cloud would never have gotten away with an attitude like that. Nibelheim was small and while it was strategically important to ShinRa due to it's wealth of mako and natural materia it wasn't so important that ShinRa would hesitate to anull the political treaty and the marriage between one of Nibelheim's concubines and the General of ShinRa.

So really, Cloud was living his own rebellion vicariously through Yuffie. He wished he could have gotten away with the sheer amount of brattiness the teenage princess was displaying. 

About an hour later, while Yuffie was fussing over make-up, Cloud's PHS rang so he ducked out of the room to answer it. It was Sephiroth.

"Cloud." Sephiroth greeted him simply.

"Husband." Cloud replied, voice equally flat.

"I don't want you alone with the Turks. I'm sending Zack to bring you back to the apartment." Sephiroth's tone was simple, brusque, and slightly harsh.

"Yes husband." Nevermind that he was among the princess's maids and the princess herself was present, but trust Sephiroth to not trust anyone outside of his circle of SOLDIER Firsts with Cloud's safety and well being. Possessive asshole.

He hung up a moment later, after confirming that he was still in the princess's apartment and would remain there until Zack arrived. With a long suffering sigh, Cloud returned to the princess's bedroom. "Sorry princess." He told Yuffie sincerely when she glanced over at him, momentarily silent in her worry. "My husband wants me home."

"What?! What an asshole! Tell him no. I want you here with me." Yuffie replied fiercely. Cloud grinned behind his veil, especially as her maids freaked out yet again at her language. The princess sure was a wild one.

"How about you say that to his face, princess." Cloud teased back. 

"What?" Yuffie squawked. Beneath her already pale make-up the princess went white as a ghost. "No way! He'd eat me alive."

"Nah, too skinny and too many bones." Cloud retorted easily. "Don't worry, princess. I'll be at the ceremony and the reception. And I live on the soldier floor with my husband. You'll still see me."

"Good." Yuffie replied. 

It didn't take long for Zack to arrive, strolling into the princess's apartment without knocking. Only the fact that Reno was in the living room alerted them to the SOLDIER First's presence before he knocked on the door to the bedroom and peeked his head in. "Hello princess." He greeted cheerfully, but the princess just stared at him, eyes wide. "I've come to kidnap back what the turks kidnapped."

Cloud rolled his eyes, even as he rose to his feet. The princess didn't respond, but she did pout in their direction. "Do you have to? He was keeping me company."

"Sorry princess, the General's rather fussy about letting his concubine out of sight." Zack even managed to sound regretful. Cloud followed him back out of the apartment.

"So what does my husband really want?" Cloud asked as soon as he and Zack were alone in the elevator.

"What makes you think he wants anything, Cloud?" Zack asked curiously.

"He always wants something." Cloud replied.

Zack crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "He doesn't like the Turks. You know this. They serve the vice president and that means they are sometimes... at odds... with Sephiroth. If the vice president wanted something, even Seph's wrath wouldn't stop him from using you to get it."

Beneath the veil, Cloud rolled his eyes. "Paranoid bastard."

"Hey!" Zack scolded. "It's well earned paranoia!"

Cloud waved him off. The elevator opened and they walked in silence to the next elevator down to the SOLDIER apartments. This time, several Thirds greeted Zack as they climbed on the same car as them. Zack greeted them cheerfully but grabbed Cloud's arm, pulling the concubine beside him. Cloud kept his head tilted down submissively, content to let Zack manhandle him. SOLDIERs made Cloud nervous. Except for Commanders Angeal and Genesis, and Field Commanders Zack and Kunsel. And, of course, Sephiroth. 

Sephiroth was waiting in their apartment when Cloud and Zack arrived, seated on the couch with a book in one hand, his PHS resting on the coffee table in front of him. His stoic expression betrayed nothing, even as he didn't rise to greet either of them. "Cloud, Commander."

"General." Zack returned respectfully. "I've brought your lost chocobo back as promised. I'll try not to let him wander off again."

"Please. See that you do." Sephiroth returned. Zack gave a cheerful salute and left the apartment, the door closing shut behind him with a soft click. Cloud flipped back his veil, happy not to have the sheer fabric hanging over his face for the time being. Sephiroth said, "The Turks know better." More pointedly, " _You_ know better."

"I get the feeling the situation was getting pretty dire before Reno came to get me." Cloud replied. He crossed the room and sank down on the edge of the couch. Close enough that Sephiroth could reach him. Far enough to give him space from the man. "The princess was in tears before I arrived. She's dressed now and should be fine to go through with the ceremony."

"I don't care about the princess." Sephiroth replied. He pulled Cloud back against him so that the younger man's back was pressed against his chest, one arm wrapped around Cloud's waist. "If something had happened to you."

"Nothing happened." Cloud interrupted. "Husband, make up your mind. Either I have no freedom and must stay within the confines of this apartment or I am free to go where I wish so long as I am escorted."

"You can go where you wish." Sephiroth's voice was tinged with exhaustion and for a moment he let his emotions slip. "So long as you are escorted by someone I trust. Zack or Kunsel, for instance." He paused, arm like iron around Cloud's waist so that the young concubine couldn't pull away even if he wanted to. "Not the Turks. They are loyal to parties that would act against you and I."

"What if I wanted to see Princess Kisaragi again?" Cloud asked.

Sephiroth sighed, a long silence following. "So long as you are escorted by someone I trust, you and the princess can see each other whenever you like."

Cloud grinned and tilted his head back, long blond hair cascading over his shoulders as he met Sephiroth's green eyes with his own blue ones. "You have no idea how much trouble we're going to get up to."

Sephiroth offered Cloud a small smile. "I'll admit, I'm pleased to see you interacting more with people besides myself, so I won't deny you and the princess your hellion ways if it's what makes you happy."

Cloud pressed back against Sephiroth's chest, head resting on the older man's shoulder as he curled in to make himself more comfortable. Cloud told himself this was fine. Sephiroth was letting him have his freedom. Was letting him act independently and it was fine. It was so much more than he ever would have had being a concubine in Nibelheim.

"What's wrong?" Sephiroth asked, clearly seeing something on Cloud's face. And it must have been obvious, because Sephiroth was prone to being oblivious about humans and their emotions.

"Nothing." Cloud replied.

Sephiroth didn't press. So Cloud added. "I'm just lonely, I guess."

He felt Sephiroth's nod, the brush of his cheek against Cloud's head. "I suppose its a lonely existance." Sephiroth said.

"Yeah." 

Silence again. Sephiroth was the first to break it. "What can I do to make it better?"

"Husband." Cloud answered warily. "What do you mean? I am... content. You do much for me. You are kind to me."

"Kindness is no basis for a relationship." Sephiroth said. "Or, at least, a relationship is not built on kindess alone. If Angeal and Genesis's relationship is anything to go by then there must be other elements. Compassion, for one of them."

To say that Cloud was shocked would have been putting it lightly. He pulled away from Sephiroth, surprised when his husband let him go. With the fluid grace of practice, Cloud slid to his knees on the floor, twisting so that his arms rested folded across Sephiroth's lap, chin on his arms as he stared up at his husband and master through pale eyelashes. "What are you talking about? Our marriage is one of alliances, a treaty to uphold between my city-state and the ShinRa company. I am  _yours_ ; you don't owe me anything."

Sephiroth rested his hands over Cloud's, holding them loosely. "Is it really so strange that I should want something more than obedience from the man I'm destined to spend the rest of my life with?"

 _Yes._ Cloud wanted to reply. Instead he kept his silence. 

Sephiroth said, "I have cared about you from the day I first saw your face at our wedding. The princess may be younger than you were, but you were braver to face the world and do what you felt needed to be done for the sake of your people."

That surprised Cloud. He turned his face up at Sephiroth, but before he could speak, Cloud's husband continued. "I may have been mired in obligations to ShinRa, and I did not care at first, but there was strength in you that day. You were more than just a pretty face to me, Cloud. I knew that, even though you belong to me by legal definition, I wanted just as much to belong to you."

"Husba--" Cloud started, then halted mid word. " _Sephiroth_. Why did you never tell me this?"

For a moment shock crossed Sephiroth's face and Cloud realized that this was the first time he'd called his husband by his name instead of a title or honorific. Three years of marriage and they'd never talked quite so openly as they were now. Cloud wanted to -- no needed to -- know why Sephiroth was bringing all this up now.  

"I never wanted you to feel pressured." Sephiroth said. "There were certain... expectations laid on us that I knew you'd fulfill even if I was reluctant. So I kept it to myself. Today, when I heard your voicemail and realized that you were alone with the Turks I worried that Rufus had finally decided to act."

Cloud cocked his head to the side. "What is the Vice President plotting?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "That I do not know. He is closely guarded in these matters. However, no one protested more to our union than Rufus Shinra. Kunsel, secret keeper that he is, has told me that Rufus disapproves of you being here. That may make him drastic in light of the other elements. Either he sees the union between Nibelheim and ShinRa as threat or he sees you or me in paticular as a threat. The Turks are loyal first and foremost to the Vice President. Cloud." Sephiroth paused. "I could not live with myself were that I failed to protect you. I love you."

Cloud rested his cheek against Sephiroth's knee, taking in his husband's words. This was so much... too much. "You love me?" He asked instead, the shock obvious on his face and in his voice. Sephiroth nodded. Cloud jumped to his feet and crashed against the older man, arms wrapped around his neck as their lips met. Sephiroth made a small noise of surprise as Cloud kissed him, but didn't protest, simply returning his kiss as Sephiroth wrapped his arms around Cloud's back, hoisting him closer.

"I never thought..." Cloud began when they broke apart. He trailed off and tried again. "I never thought you'd love me."

Sephiroth shifted beneath him, from a relaxed position to one that was more upright. "Never doubt that Cloud. You belong to me. I will love you for as long as that remains true."

**Author's Note:**

> Like what you see? Find more on my [writing tumblr](http://storytellerlockea.tumblr.com). Want to hang out? I'm always derping at my [personal tumblr](http://lockea.tumblr.com).
> 
> As always, if you enjoyed consider leaving a comment or a kudos. Authors always love them and I'm no exception.


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